WEBVTT 00:00:14.584 --> 00:00:16.085 Thank you very much. 00:00:16.109 --> 00:00:19.498 It's true I was born into a band; 00:00:19.499 --> 00:00:22.038 very literally, I mean that literally. 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:25.788 When I was born, my four older brothers who were already playing music, 00:00:25.789 --> 00:00:28.589 knew that they needed a bass player 00:00:28.590 --> 00:00:30.059 (Laughter) 00:00:30.060 --> 00:00:32.738 to round out the family band. 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:35.157 I was born into that role. 00:00:35.158 --> 00:00:40.199 As I'm older I'm looking back right now, now that I'm called a teacher. 00:00:41.099 --> 00:00:43.848 When I look back on that, and how I was taught, 00:00:43.849 --> 00:00:46.375 I realized that I wasn't really taught. 00:00:46.376 --> 00:00:49.079 Which is why I say that music is a language; 00:00:49.080 --> 00:00:51.489 because if you think about your first language, 00:00:51.490 --> 00:00:54.098 for me, and probably most of us here might be English, 00:00:54.099 --> 00:00:56.018 so I'm just going to go with English. 00:00:56.019 --> 00:00:59.488 If you think about how you learned it, you realize you weren't taught it. 00:00:59.489 --> 00:01:01.414 People just spoke to you. 00:01:01.415 --> 00:01:04.708 But the coolest thing is where it gets interesting 00:01:04.709 --> 00:01:07.828 because you were allowed to speak back. 00:01:07.829 --> 00:01:09.989 If I take the music example, 00:01:09.990 --> 00:01:14.998 in most cases, our beginners are not allowed to play with the better people. 00:01:14.999 --> 00:01:16.868 You're stuck in the beginning class. 00:01:16.869 --> 00:01:18.788 You have to remain there a few years, 00:01:18.789 --> 00:01:22.028 until you are elevated to the intermediate, and then advanced; 00:01:22.029 --> 00:01:24.139 and after you graduate the advanced class, 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:26.989 you still have to go out and pay a lot of dues. 00:01:26.990 --> 00:01:28.568 But with language, 00:01:28.569 --> 00:01:33.260 to use a musical term, even as a baby you're "jamming" with professionals. 00:01:34.530 --> 00:01:36.448 All the time. 00:01:36.449 --> 00:01:39.937 To the point that you don't even know you're a beginner. 00:01:39.938 --> 00:01:43.369 No one says, "I can't talk to you until-- You got to go over there. 00:01:43.370 --> 00:01:45.468 When you're older, then I can speak to you." 00:01:45.469 --> 00:01:47.268 (Laughter) 00:01:47.269 --> 00:01:48.978 That doesn't happen. 00:01:48.979 --> 00:01:51.519 No one tells you what you have to say. 00:01:52.709 --> 00:01:56.039 You're not made to sit in a corner and practice. 00:01:57.689 --> 00:02:01.570 You're never even corrected when you're wrong. 00:02:02.670 --> 00:02:06.660 Think about it: when you're 2-3 years old, and you say a word wrong over and over, 00:02:06.669 --> 00:02:08.268 no one corrects you. 00:02:08.269 --> 00:02:10.388 If you say it wrong enough times, 00:02:10.389 --> 00:02:13.688 instead of correcting you, your parents learn your way. 00:02:13.689 --> 00:02:14.523 (Laughter) 00:02:14.524 --> 00:02:17.488 And they start saying it wrong too! 00:02:17.489 --> 00:02:21.292 The coolest part of that is that you remain free, 00:02:21.293 --> 00:02:23.181 with how you talk. 00:02:24.241 --> 00:02:27.529 And so you never have to follow the musical role of learning 00:02:27.530 --> 00:02:30.559 all these years and then, going and finding your voice. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:33.353 With your speaking voice, you've never lost it. 00:02:34.263 --> 00:02:36.496 No one ever robbed you of that. 00:02:37.336 --> 00:02:41.839 And so, when I was young that's how I was learning; 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:46.719 I was learning English and music at the same time 00:02:46.720 --> 00:02:48.499 and in the same way. 00:02:49.269 --> 00:02:53.477 So I tell this to people; I usually say, "Yeah, I started when I was two or three." 00:02:53.478 --> 00:02:57.010 And I say that just because that's more believable. 00:02:57.940 --> 00:02:59.959 But when did you start speaking English? 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:02.029 Did you wait until you were two or three? 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:03.979 No. 00:03:04.589 --> 00:03:08.009 You were speaking, I'd probably say, before birth. 00:03:08.769 --> 00:03:12.529 Whenever you could hear is when you probably started learning it. 00:03:13.119 --> 00:03:17.199 To me, that's very, very cool, and very very clever of my brothers 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:19.729 - my oldest brother, out of the five... 00:03:19.730 --> 00:03:21.739 I'm the youngest, Reggie is the oldest - 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:23.788 He's only eight years older than me. 00:03:23.789 --> 00:03:26.998 So how he was this smart, I don't know. That's the real question. 00:03:26.999 --> 00:03:29.328 That should be the real TED talk. 00:03:29.329 --> 00:03:32.729 How he figured out the ingenious way 00:03:32.730 --> 00:03:37.079 of not teaching us, younger brothers, how to play! 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:39.429 He didn't start me by putting a bass in my hands. 00:03:39.430 --> 00:03:40.610 No. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.118 The first thing they did was to play music around me 00:03:46.848 --> 00:03:49.278 from my earliest age that I can remember. 00:03:49.279 --> 00:03:51.129 I can remember living in Hawaii, 00:03:51.130 --> 00:03:56.569 my brothers would set up, and I can remember seeing a plastic stool. 00:03:56.570 --> 00:03:59.099 A lot of times we'd set up in the front yard 00:03:59.100 --> 00:04:00.949 where I can see a plastic stool, 00:04:00.950 --> 00:04:04.319 with a little plastic toy, Mickey Mouse wind-up-guitar, 00:04:04.320 --> 00:04:06.078 laying on top of that stool. 00:04:06.079 --> 00:04:09.078 No one had to tell me that that was for me. 00:04:09.079 --> 00:04:12.919 The same way no one has to tell you when it's your turn to talk. 00:04:12.920 --> 00:04:16.718 You know how to do it and so I knew that stool was for me. 00:04:16.719 --> 00:04:18.418 I knew that instrument was for me. 00:04:18.418 --> 00:04:22.218 It had plastic strings on it, you would wind it up, and it would play a song. 00:04:22.219 --> 00:04:26.708 But you couldn't really play it from the strings, and it wasn't about that. 00:04:26.709 --> 00:04:29.940 By the time I was old enough to hold an instrument, 00:04:31.649 --> 00:04:36.398 they gave me something to hold Just for the sake of holding something; 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:39.119 preparing me for the later years. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:41.550 It wasn't about playing that instrument. 00:04:42.770 --> 00:04:45.448 That's the mistake a lot of us, music teachers make: 00:04:45.449 --> 00:04:50.147 we teach kids how to play the instrument first, before they understand music. 00:04:50.148 --> 00:04:52.549 You don't teach a kid how to spell. 00:04:52.550 --> 00:04:54.359 Teaching a kid to spell "milk" 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:57.029 before they've been drinking a lot of it for a few years 00:04:57.030 --> 00:04:58.479 doesn't make sense does it? 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:01.349 But for some reason, we still think it does in music. 00:05:01.350 --> 00:05:04.750 We want to teach them the rules and the instruments first. 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:09.448 But by the time I was about two, and they put that toy in my hands, 00:05:09.449 --> 00:05:13.749 I was already very musical because I believe you're born musical. 00:05:13.750 --> 00:05:18.049 Just listen to anybody's voice. Listen to any child's voice. 00:05:18.050 --> 00:05:20.115 There's no purer music than that. 00:05:20.116 --> 00:05:23.541 So my brothers somehow knew I was born musical, 00:05:23.542 --> 00:05:25.451 but they wanted me to be a bass player 00:05:25.452 --> 00:05:28.027 so when I was old enough, they put a toy in my hands, 00:05:28.028 --> 00:05:29.931 and they would play. 00:05:29.932 --> 00:05:33.784 I would just bounce up and down and strum along, too. 00:05:33.785 --> 00:05:38.909 But the coolest thing about it, again, is it wasn't about the instrument. 00:05:38.910 --> 00:05:43.039 I was learning to play music not an instrument. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.510 And I continue that hopefully today. 00:05:46.380 --> 00:05:50.687 Again, what I did know was I knew what it meant 00:05:50.688 --> 00:05:56.178 when my brother opened up his high hat at the end of a four-bar phrase. 00:05:56.189 --> 00:05:58.489 Or I learned these phrases versus that phrase. 00:05:58.490 --> 00:06:00.787 The same way a baby knows what it means 00:06:00.788 --> 00:06:03.787 when the mother raises the pitch of her voice 00:06:03.788 --> 00:06:06.569 versus the father lowering the pitch of his. 00:06:06.570 --> 00:06:07.909 You know these things, 00:06:07.910 --> 00:06:11.569 and even though you may not even understand what the word means. 00:06:11.570 --> 00:06:13.484 And so you're learning all these things. 00:06:13.604 --> 00:06:16.287 By the time a baby can speak a real word, 00:06:16.288 --> 00:06:19.089 they know already a lot about the language. 00:06:19.090 --> 00:06:20.861 So I was learning music the same way. 00:06:20.981 --> 00:06:25.029 By the time I had the instrument in my hands, I was already very musical. 00:06:25.030 --> 00:06:27.358 When I would turn about three years old, 00:06:27.359 --> 00:06:31.578 Reggie took two strings off of one of his six-string guitars. 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:36.559 He took the two high strings off, and that became my first real instrument. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.458 So Reggie actually started teaching me 00:06:39.459 --> 00:06:44.398 to put my finger in certain places to produce notes 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:46.229 to songs I already knew. 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:53.388 I wasn't starting from the beginning. I was musical first. 00:06:53.389 --> 00:06:56.820 Now, I just had to put that music through an instrument. 00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:02.159 And looking back on it now, I realize that's how I learned to talk. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.369 It wasn't about learning the instrument first. 00:07:05.370 --> 00:07:07.812 Who cares about the instrument you talk with? 00:07:07.813 --> 00:07:10.116 It's about what you have to say. 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:16.042 I've always musically maintained my own voice. 00:07:16.089 --> 00:07:18.137 I've always had something to say. 00:07:18.138 --> 00:07:22.167 And I've learned how to speak through my instrument. 00:07:22.957 --> 00:07:24.907 So if we think about a couple of things 00:07:24.908 --> 00:07:30.238 not being forced to practice, not being told what you have to say 00:07:30.239 --> 00:07:35.059 - I'm speaking English again - not being told what you have to say. 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:38.208 When the teacher teaches you a new word in English, 00:07:38.209 --> 00:07:41.537 she has you put it into a sentence; in the context, right away. 00:07:41.538 --> 00:07:44.267 A music teacher will tell you to go practice it. 00:07:44.268 --> 00:07:48.827 Practicing works but it's a slower process than putting it into context. 00:07:48.828 --> 00:07:50.999 And we know that with English. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:52.889 And so this was the way I learned. 00:07:52.890 --> 00:07:59.279 As I grew older, about five years old, we were actually on tour; the five of us. 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:02.249 We were fortunate enough to be able to tour 00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:06.048 opening for a great soul singer named Curtis Mayfield. 00:08:07.178 --> 00:08:10.399 So if I was five years old, my oldest brother was only 13. 00:08:11.149 --> 00:08:16.199 But when I think about it, we could speak good English at that age. 00:08:16.209 --> 00:08:17.679 Why not music? 00:08:18.739 --> 00:08:22.098 So I've always, since then, approached music just like a language, 00:08:22.099 --> 00:08:26.659 because I learned it at the same time and in the same way. 00:08:27.779 --> 00:08:29.518 The best part of it all 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.558 is I've maintained something that little children are born with. 00:08:33.568 --> 00:08:35.360 And that's freedom. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:41.398 A lot of us are talked out of our musical freedom, 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:43.727 when we are first given a lesson. 00:08:43.729 --> 00:08:45.228 Because we go to a teacher, 00:08:45.229 --> 00:08:49.488 and the teacher rarely ever finds out why we came in the first place. 00:08:49.489 --> 00:08:51.848 A lot of times, that kid playing that air guitar 00:08:51.849 --> 00:08:53.609 where there's no right or wrong, 00:08:53.610 --> 00:08:57.028 it's not about the right or wrong notes, it's not about the instrument. 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:59.289 They're playing because it feels right. 00:08:59.290 --> 00:09:03.268 It's the same way and reason that you sing in the shower. 00:09:03.269 --> 00:09:06.798 Or when you're driving to work; you're singing. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:09.648 You're not singing because it's the right notes 00:09:10.528 --> 00:09:12.287 or you know the right scales, 00:09:12.288 --> 00:09:14.957 you're singing because it feels good. 00:09:14.958 --> 00:09:17.759 I spoke to a lady at breakfast who said, 00:09:17.760 --> 00:09:20.262 "I'm Ella Fitzgerald when I'm in the shower!" 00:09:20.263 --> 00:09:22.125 (Laughter) 00:09:22.126 --> 00:09:23.859 And of course she's right! 00:09:23.860 --> 00:09:28.060 So why does that change when someone outside starts to listen? 00:09:30.070 --> 00:09:32.818 That freedom becomes lost as we grow and as we learn, 00:09:32.819 --> 00:09:36.657 and we need to find a way to keep that freedom. 00:09:36.658 --> 00:09:38.319 And it can be done! 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:39.999 It's not gone forever. 00:09:41.239 --> 00:09:45.148 A kid playing air guitar will play with a smile on their face. 00:09:46.778 --> 00:09:49.598 Give them the first lesson, the smile goes away. 00:09:51.648 --> 00:09:53.588 A lot of times you have to work for 00:09:53.589 --> 00:09:56.798 your whole musical life to get that smile back. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:01.768 As teachers, we can keep that smile, if we approach it the right way. 00:10:01.769 --> 00:10:04.838 And I say approach it like a language; 00:10:04.839 --> 00:10:07.771 allow the student to keep the freedom. 00:10:07.772 --> 00:10:09.708 As I got older, a little bit older, 00:10:09.709 --> 00:10:13.638 and my brothers and I started to tour and play a lot, 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:16.729 my mom would ask a question that I never understood really 00:10:16.730 --> 00:10:20.969 until I got much older and had kids of my own. 00:10:20.970 --> 00:10:22.341 My Mom would ask us boys, 00:10:22.342 --> 00:10:24.610 and she was saying, "What does the world need 00:10:26.089 --> 00:10:27.829 with another good musician?" 00:10:29.900 --> 00:10:31.205 Think about that. 00:10:31.206 --> 00:10:34.172 And I'm saying music, but insert your own career. 00:10:35.082 --> 00:10:37.399 What does the world need with you? 00:10:39.669 --> 00:10:42.789 It really made me realize that now, as I've got older, 00:10:42.790 --> 00:10:46.628 music is more than just a language, music is a lifestyle. 00:10:48.888 --> 00:10:50.167 It's my lifestyle. 00:10:50.168 --> 00:10:54.639 Don't get me wrong: I'm not talking about the lifestyle a lot of musicians lead. 00:10:55.899 --> 00:10:59.658 Because we can look back at our musical heroes of the past 00:10:59.659 --> 00:11:02.389 and realize that they were huge successes in music, 00:11:02.390 --> 00:11:04.540 but just as huge failures in life. 00:11:06.110 --> 00:11:10.038 I could name a few of them, but I don't want to upset anybody; 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:13.870 but if we think about our heroes, a lot of them were like that. 00:11:15.490 --> 00:11:17.977 I think our parents were preparing us for something 00:11:17.978 --> 00:11:21.928 that we didn't know at the time, but I think she could see ahead. 00:11:21.929 --> 00:11:24.150 "What does the world need 00:11:26.580 --> 00:11:28.620 with another good musician?" 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:32.220 So we're practicing all these hours. 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:36.419 We turned our whole house into a music room 00:11:36.420 --> 00:11:40.499 where all the neighborhood, all the state-wide musicians would show up. 00:11:40.500 --> 00:11:42.069 We would practice, 00:11:42.070 --> 00:11:44.359 my parents would spend money they didn't have 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:46.928 to make sure we had the next newest instrument. 00:11:46.929 --> 00:11:49.908 Every Christmas, Santa would bring the newest thing. 00:11:49.909 --> 00:11:51.588 What was that about? 00:11:52.698 --> 00:11:55.638 Was it just so that we could make money? 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:59.339 So that we could stand on stage and bask in the glory? 00:12:02.470 --> 00:12:06.070 I realize now, that it is much more than that. 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:08.818 Music is my lifestyle. 00:12:09.578 --> 00:12:12.409 And now as I'm going into really studying music, 00:12:12.410 --> 00:12:15.507 so that I could share it with other people in a teacher's role, 00:12:15.508 --> 00:12:18.969 I realize that there's a lot that we can learn from music 00:12:18.970 --> 00:12:20.455 and apply to our lives. 00:12:20.456 --> 00:12:23.232 To be a good musician, you have to be a good listener. 00:12:26.012 --> 00:12:29.248 Doesn't matter how great I am as a bassist, or any instrument. 00:12:29.249 --> 00:12:30.808 Doesn't matter how great I am. 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:34.760 We can put five of the world's best musicians on this stage. 00:12:36.370 --> 00:12:39.378 But if we're great separate from each other, 00:12:39.379 --> 00:12:41.170 it's going to sound horrible. 00:12:43.730 --> 00:12:46.970 But if we listen to each other and play together, 00:12:48.680 --> 00:12:51.139 individually, we don't have to be as great, 00:12:52.490 --> 00:12:54.710 and it'll sound much better. 00:12:57.500 --> 00:13:01.758 I was invited a couple years in a row to go to Stanford, in California, 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:06.018 and put together a musical team to address the incoming freshman class. 00:13:06.019 --> 00:13:08.888 And we were able to use music to give them an idea 00:13:08.889 --> 00:13:11.758 what the next four years of their life might be like. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:14.668 It was fun using music to do it because music is a way 00:13:14.669 --> 00:13:17.819 that I can talk about anything that could be kind of touchy: 00:13:17.820 --> 00:13:22.398 politics, racism, equality, inequality, religion. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.628 I can do it through music, and I'm still safe. 00:13:25.629 --> 00:13:27.909 We were able to pick someone out of the audience 00:13:27.910 --> 00:13:29.849 who'd never played an instrument before. 00:13:29.850 --> 00:13:31.119 Usually, it was a female; 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.598 have her come up, we'd strap a bass around her neck, 00:13:33.599 --> 00:13:35.448 and then I would get the band playing. 00:13:35.449 --> 00:13:37.348 And as soon as the band starts playing, 00:13:37.349 --> 00:13:38.944 that person starts doing this. 00:13:38.945 --> 00:13:40.550 (Laughter) 00:13:40.551 --> 00:13:42.323 And I say, "That's music!" 00:13:43.293 --> 00:13:46.454 If you listen to that bass, like any instrument in a music store, 00:13:46.455 --> 00:13:49.288 when it's sitting there, it doesn't make a sound. 00:13:49.289 --> 00:13:52.518 So if you want music to come out of that, you have to put it there. 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:56.579 And that groove that's in your neck, you just have to put it in the instrument. 00:13:56.580 --> 00:13:59.110 So I just had her with her left hand squeeze the neck 00:13:59.125 --> 00:14:02.334 - because everyone knows how to hold an instrument, that's not new - 00:14:02.335 --> 00:14:07.008 squeeze it and then, let your right hand dance, on the string. 00:14:07.009 --> 00:14:10.169 She starts bouncing on that note, and the band kicks up around her. 00:14:10.170 --> 00:14:13.158 All of a sudden, she's a bassist. 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:15.537 More so, she's a musician. 00:14:15.538 --> 00:14:18.256 A dancer never has to ask questions before they dance. 00:14:18.257 --> 00:14:20.927 A singer doesn't usually have to ask what key are we in. 00:14:20.928 --> 00:14:23.608 Musicians have to ask too many questions. 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:27.448 So what that taught me is that, "Wow! 00:14:27.449 --> 00:14:31.291 Because we're great, she doesn't have to know anything." 00:14:31.292 --> 00:14:33.214 (Laughter) 00:14:33.215 --> 00:14:36.829 And all of a sudden, anyone who were to walk into the room and see this band 00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:39.829 with this newcomer on stage, 00:14:39.830 --> 00:14:42.823 no one would know who was the newcomer. 00:14:44.103 --> 00:14:45.595 So that let me know, "Wow! 00:14:45.596 --> 00:14:51.530 If I use my greatness in the right way, it can help others rise up quickly." 00:14:52.910 --> 00:14:55.728 And the coolest thing about that whole thing in Stanford 00:14:55.729 --> 00:14:57.398 is she got to take the bass home! 00:14:57.399 --> 00:14:58.907 (Laughter) 00:14:58.908 --> 00:15:01.908 I saw her recently, she is still a bassist 00:15:01.909 --> 00:15:03.948 so that's great. 00:15:03.949 --> 00:15:07.508 Listening is a great musical key that we can use for life, 00:15:07.509 --> 00:15:11.628 working together, of course, being great to help other people become great. 00:15:11.629 --> 00:15:13.408 When people put you up on a pedestal, 00:15:13.409 --> 00:15:16.128 don't come off the pedestal acting like you're humble. 00:15:16.129 --> 00:15:17.378 Stay up on that pedestal, 00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:20.778 because if they put you there that's showing you how high they can see. 00:15:20.779 --> 00:15:22.719 Stay there and pull them up. 00:15:23.709 --> 00:15:27.301 And they'll grow faster than if you come down. 00:15:27.302 --> 00:15:30.644 So we're going to help these people because we're great. 00:15:30.645 --> 00:15:34.789 In music, usually, I'm not great until you say I am, anyway. 00:15:34.790 --> 00:15:37.079 They say, "He's won all these Grammy's." 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:39.548 I can't win anything without you all. 00:15:39.549 --> 00:15:41.708 Another thing my mom always taught us 00:15:41.709 --> 00:15:44.309 is, "You boys are already successful. 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:47.939 The rest of the world just doesn't know it yet!" 00:15:48.939 --> 00:15:52.049 I didn't understand that then, but I really, really do now. 00:15:52.050 --> 00:15:56.450 Really quickly, before I get out of here I just want you to think about this: 00:15:56.459 --> 00:15:59.459 If I were to play two notes, Let's say I play a C; 00:15:59.469 --> 00:16:01.479 - just want you to use your imagination - 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.950 if I play a C and a C-sharp right next to each other, 00:16:05.850 --> 00:16:08.460 it'll probably sound like those notes clash; 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:11.223 "Wrong!", "Bad!" 00:16:14.393 --> 00:16:16.886 But if I take the C up an octave, 00:16:18.126 --> 00:16:20.728 play the C-sharp and the C again. 00:16:20.729 --> 00:16:22.548 All of a sudden, it sounds beautiful. 00:16:22.549 --> 00:16:24.369 Same two notes. 00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:29.128 That C becomes a major seventh to the C-sharp 00:16:29.129 --> 00:16:34.958 which is a key element that makes a chord almost too beautiful, too nice sounding. 00:16:34.959 --> 00:16:38.739 So how can the same two notes sound bad and clash in one instance 00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:40.300 and beautiful in another? 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:42.830 Just take that to life. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:46.658 When we see something bad, or awful, or horrible in life, 00:16:46.659 --> 00:16:49.066 maybe we're just reviewing it in the wrong octave. 00:16:50.796 --> 00:16:53.393 Maybe we could change our perspective. 00:16:54.053 --> 00:16:56.559 Actually, if you see something that's wrong, 00:16:56.560 --> 00:17:00.479 you should know that you're seeing it in the wrong octave 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:05.267 and find a way to change your viewpoint. 00:17:05.268 --> 00:17:08.498 Or to use a musical term - change your octave. 00:17:11.048 --> 00:17:17.888 Countries make bombs with the goal of hurting people, 00:17:18.909 --> 00:17:22.769 instilling fear, killing people, proving a point. 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:28.002 Countries, governments bless the bombs before they're sent. 00:17:28.912 --> 00:17:31.514 This happens from the top-down, the government down. 00:17:31.515 --> 00:17:33.329 This is our answer. 00:17:35.369 --> 00:17:38.749 Makes me realize that the solution may have to come from the bottom-up. 00:17:38.750 --> 00:17:42.330 Is anyone working on a bomb that makes people love you? 00:17:43.260 --> 00:17:44.980 Maybe a cupid bomb? 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:48.189 I believe we already have it. 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:49.709 It's called Music. 00:17:50.679 --> 00:17:53.678 And every country has their own version of it. 00:17:53.679 --> 00:17:57.249 And it works. It brings people together. 00:17:57.250 --> 00:18:00.829 You don't have to know a thing about it to get it. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.889 It's a language. It's a lifestyle. 00:18:05.949 --> 00:18:07.968 And it can save the world. 00:18:07.969 --> 00:18:10.699 My name is Victor Wooten. I'm a musician. 00:18:11.659 --> 00:18:13.951 And I hope you'll join me on the battlefield. 00:18:13.952 --> 00:18:15.054 (Laughter) 00:18:15.055 --> 00:18:16.108 Thank you. 00:18:16.109 --> 00:18:17.355 (Applause)